I am not healthy now, but I was and I will be. The name of this page isn’t a description of who I am now, but a memory of what I was and a vision for what I am becoming again.

The Memory

Despite a financially poor childhood I was a pretty healthy kid growing up. My biggest saving grace in grade school is that I rarely ever missed a day, so most years I got the perfect attendance award. By virtue of showing up I was able to graduate high school despite often not putting in my best effort. Unfortunately I didn’t keep up the habits and activities that helped me to be healthy. As I got older I started eating more deserts and junk food. When I left home for boot camp I stopped taking vitamins other than Motrin since that was the only “vitamin” they had. When my enlistment term was up I didn’t keep up with regular exercise. I sat at a desk at school, I sat at a desk at work, I sat in my car, then I sat lounging around at home watching movies or reading books. Then when I was 35 I started having sporadic symptoms where I had to run to the bathroom at a moment’s notice.

The Reality

By the time I was 36 I realized I couldn’t handle what was happening on my own an over the counter medication wasn’t helping. First I went to an express care center, then they sent me to the ER where I was given an initial diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis and a referral to a GI doctor, where the diagnosis was confirmed. I had a nice two years or so where the Ulcerative Colitis was in remission, but it came back when I moved up to Newark to be closer to work at a new position during the middle of their annual audit. It has now been over two years and I am still struggling to shake that flare up. I hit some really deep lows with my health and with life in general as I have struggled with this disease, but at least I am starting to see some improvement as I start to bring back the habits that helped me to stay healthy as a kid: healthy eating, physical activity, low stress, vitamins, and proper sleep.

The Vision

I can and will be healthy again. I’ll get back to a point where I have the energy to do a full day’s work. I’ll be able to go to a store without first needing to find where the bathrooms are. I’ll be able to take a trip without needing to map out where the rest stops are every few miles. I’ll be able to sit through a finance committee meeting without needing to excuse myself multiple times to visit the men’s room. I will be able to work from home by choice, not out of necessity. I’ll be able to enjoy my life and have the health to do what I want to and need to with confidence.

The Details

This page will document some of my journey back to good health and share some of the tools I am using to get there. One of those tools comes in the form of vitamins and supplements. My parents raised me with Shaklee vitamins and this year I decided to go back to where I started and see if they could help me stay healthy as an adult. Some of the vitamins have been updated since I was a kid and there are a few totally new ones, but the philosophy behind their products remains the same. They incorporate the best science and research with the best nature has to offer. Healing naturally can be a slow journey, but I am seeing progress. If you are interested in supplementing your diet to help maintain your health than I can’t recommend a better line of vitamins. You can check out my store to see what they offer. I started with Meology because with a simple quiz it made it easy to sort through all that they have to offer and find the solutions that would benefit me the most.

Home – Healthy Tim (shaklee.com)

I will also post about my journey with Ulcerative Colitis and my overall efforts to get healthy on my blog from time to time. You can find posts that are relevant to my health journey here: Health!

One of my favorite ways of getting physical activity and reducing stress was to get out on the river. Due to my poor health and lack of energy, I wasn’t able to do that for a while, but I am hoping to get out on the river again before it gets too cold this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to add to these pictures soon.